Adil Najam
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated one year ago today, December 27.
I remember being in utter shock when I first heard that news. In some ways I am still in shock. Indeed, as our wall of newspaper covers showed, the whole world was in shock. That shock, I believe, is also still alive.
And, yet, so much – so very much – has changed. An elected government holds power. Benazir Bhutto’s arch-nemesis Gen. Pervez Musharraf is no longer President of Pakistan. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is. We still do not know who was behind her death, but speculation remains rife. The economy remains in nosedive. An energy crisis is upon us. One Chief Justice still awaits reinstatement. Another is embroiled in scandal. War talk with India on the East is the rage. Drones pound us on the West. And Pakistan continues to lose both territory and citizens to the extremists who continue to wage a war within Pakistan and on Pakistan. Most of all, anger and angst still define the social disposition.
None of this is new. As a re-reading of our review of 2007 would show there is no evidence that 2008 was any more depressing than 2007 was. It just feels that way. Good things have happened (including elections) but so many bad things have piled on that it becomes difficult to remember what they were. Each new day brings new headlines of death, depression and despondency. And each headline chips away at the national psyche. The angst compounds within us. Gloom adds to gloom and the emergent analysis becomes ever more gloomy.
Speculative it surely is, but even if only for speculation’s sake, what if she had not been killed on that fateful day a year ago?
What if she had survived the attack? Would things have been different? Would the nature of the government she would have formed or run have been different from Mr. Zardari’s government? Would Gen. Musharraf’s fate have been different? Would Justice Iftikhar’s fate have been different? Would the pressure on Pakistan from abroad have been different? Would Pakistan’s response to extremists have been different? All of this, of course, assumes that she would have won the elections and assumed power had she lived. But, would even that have been so?
I do not know the answers to any of these. No one does. But a part of me would like to believe (for the sake of my own sanity) that things in Pakistan would, indeed, have been different – and better – if she had not been killed, even if nothing else had been any different from what it is today. Simply, because the blot of her assassination would have been one less stain for our collective soul to cleanse off. And she would still be there to give hope to at least a few!
Well, she is dead. Let her please rest in peace now!
Zardari being one of the major suspects is a logical inference though by no means the only one. A clear suspicion can be raised at the direct benefactor. There are also many other details that are worth investigating.
1. The role of Khalid Shahensha. He was the servant of BB who can be seen on youtube making very strange gestures and then repeatedly pointing to BB. He was reported to have gone underground after the assassination. Thereafter, he was killed while serving as the security chief of Bilawal house in Karachi 6 months later. Why did he disappear AND THEN ONCE AGAIN POSITIONED IN Bilawal house?
2. Why didn’t BB inform anyone else about the “will”? Especially when she very well knew Zardari’s reputation within and outside her party? At a minimum, could not have she used the services of a credible foreign law firm or informed her closest confidant Naheed Khan?
3. Zardari very smoothly moved into gaining absolute power. He initially indicated that Amin Fahim would be the next PM and Zardari would be playing a facilitator role. This of course changed after elections. Additionally, there have been blatant lies eroding his credibility by performing unbelievable somersaults having signed before the country twice.
4. The roles of Rehman Malik and Zulfikar Mirza, BB’s top 2 security advisors. Rehman Malik’s conflicting acts and statements are public knowledge. Plus, the elevation of shady characters and push baks to BB’s loyalists such as Naheed Khan and Fahim and Aitzaz.
5. The lack of real will to find BB’s killers.
6. The reports, though unconfirmed that the couple was living separately. It does seem certain though that despite the NRO, BB did not have a role for Zardari till her death and no ticket for the elections was provided to him.
Each of these points can further be expanded. Therefore, I believe it certainly is worth investigating along with other leads.
I think PPP wouldnt have won as many seats if Benazir lived, and her ineligability and backdoor dealing would have favored the lawyers movement to such an extent that elections might have been difficult.
Benazir’s death brought us into a catch-22.
I agree with “Realist” and would like to add one more:
4- Corruption, Zardari and Benazir are synonyms of each other.
@REALIST,
if speaking really good Urdu is such an important factor, I guess we should have Altaf Bhai as Prime Minister?
By the way, have you ever listened to clips of Jinnah himself speaking Urdu?